Can Beauty Be an Escape?

I love a good beauty transformation. I am amazed by what François Nars can do with eye shadow to turn an ordinary woman into some otherworldly being—not to mention what the contestants of RuPaul's Drag Race can do with glitter and lipstick. But I was reminded by a small independent film called The Lips, that often the most profound changes are the subtlest.

The movie, which won an award at the Cannes Film Festival last year, is about three Argentine social workers who travel to an impoverished part of the countryside to care for the poor. The three central characters are played by a trio of Argentine actresses, but their patients and clients are played by real-life local villagers, which gives their problems—malnutrition, illness, and overcrowding—a truly heartbreaking air of reality. As an antidote to the difficulties faced by their patients, the women get dressed up, complete with a swipe of borrowed lipstick, and head out to a local bar. They do not look hugely different—this isn't a Hollywood movie makeover montage—but their collective mood is altered, nonetheless. The women need a release, to shake off the stresses of the day, and they find that in their growing friendship with one another and in the act of getting ready, of transforming themselves from caregivers back into feminine individuals.

Have you ever found a release—even from life's most serious problems—in a makeup or beauty ritual? Which one?